Common Name: Trailing Groundberry

General Information

Acrotriche prostrata is a prostrate, evergreen shrub growing up to 15cm tall with trailing stems that root at intervals. The plant forms a mat of growth maybe 100 - 200cm wide after a few years.
The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Australia - Victoria

Habitat

Grows in areas with a slatey bedrock[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Habit	Evergreen Shrub
Height	0.15 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of warm temperate areas in southern Australia, it can tolerate some frost.
Grows best in partial shade to full sun in a moist to well drained clay soil. Established plants are drought tolerant.

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw[].

Flowers (nectar)[]. The native Aborigines sucked the flowers for their sweet nectar, or soaked the flowers in water to make a sweet drink, which was sometimes fermented into a weakly alcoholic brew[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - we have no information for this speices, but the seed is likely to benefit from scarification. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing.